The Right Stuff (1983)
May 20, 2026
We strap in for Philip Kaufman’s sweeping 1983 epic The Right Stuff—a film so genuinely, stubbornly good that it nearly breaks our ability to snark about it.
Nathan Blackwell is a Phoenix-based filmmaker who began his career like many of his counter-parts, as a weird eleven year-old kid running around with a camera. In 1998 he directed his first feature film, Forever Midnight, and in 2007 he created his production company Squishy Studios, with which he produced numerous short films and the award winning, two season web series Voyage Trekkers. He's won over 40 filmmaking awards, including six ADDYs for directing commercial and branded content, was named by the New Times as one of Phoenix's 100 Creatives, and recently won Filmmaker of the Year at the Phoenix Film Festival for his feature film "The Last Movie Ever Made."
We strap in for Philip Kaufman’s sweeping 1983 epic The Right Stuff—a film so genuinely, stubbornly good that it nearly breaks our ability to snark about it.
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Adam Marshall Rini joins us to close out Season 8 with Mel Brooks’ 1987 sci-fi parody Spaceballs. Does this childhood favorite still holds up with “grown-up eyes”?
Heath Wilcock joins us as we make ourselves at home with John Hughes’ 1989 comedy Uncle Buck, a lovable exploration of family dynamics and giant pancakes.
David Westlake joins us as we dive headfirst into Katsuhiro Otomo’s groundbreaking 1988 anime masterpiece Akira. Buckle up—this one goes hard from frame one.
Robert Fata joins us to dive into the 1988 sci-fi rom-com My Stepmother is an Alien, starring Kim Basinger, Dan Aykroyd, and a scene-stealing debut from Alyson Hannigan.